PARIS — Two women died Saturday morning while attempting to cross the English Channel from France to the United Kingdom on a makeshift boat carrying dozens of other migrants, French authorities said.

The Pas-de-Calais prefecture said rescuers found the women in cardiac arrest but could not revive them.

A couple and their child suffering from hypothermia were transported to a hospital in Boulogne.

The incident occurred off the coast of Neufchatel-Hardelot, a small town in northern France.

Local media reported that more than 60 migrants were rescued overnight. Police also prevented several other attempted crossings, the prefecture said.

Seventeen migrants have died so far this year while trying to reach the U.K. by boat from the French coast, according to official figures.

The tragedy comes days after France and Britain implemented a new arrangement in which the U.K. can return migrants who entered without authorization, while France accepts vetted asylum-seekers.

Earlier this week, a family of three, including a young child, became the first to be transferred to the U.K. under the program.

Meanwhile, four people who had arrived in Britain by boat were flown back to France. The U.K. Home Office described the arrangement as part of “critical first steps” in its “one in, one out” plan. — Agencies